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I’m sharing the top 10 bits of advice that I have been given, all of which have done me good, some I wish I’d followed sooner and some that probably contradict each other... but hey, that’s the crazy world we live in. Please feel free to ignore but I’m of the opinion that trying new things is good, so if you are stuck any of this helps then Bonzer Baby, Good Times Ahead!

Always carry a sketch book, or at least a pen/pencil

I have seen Chris Riddell talk on several occasions and he is always armed with the sharpest pencils I’ve ever seen (see photo evidence) and a sketch book, or two. His drawing skills and level of detail often leave his audiences in awe.

In 2015, I was also lucky to hear the legend that is Tomi Ungerer talk about his career, and he also said, “Never leave home without a pencil” – here are my notes from my sketchbook about his talk:

There are so many reasons this is great advice for anyone wishing to illustrate. The biggest being you can observe things and draw from life which, in turn, helps you get better at drawing. If you see something interesting then getting it into your sketchbook adds it to the visual vaults of your mind, so you can access it again when you need it. Maybe someone’s posture is expressive, or a building is really inspiring, or even the label on a chocolate bar has an interesting pattern… Inspiration is everywhere, and by drawing maybe as well as photographing you are building up your illustration muscles and can incorporate a rich new world into your work.

Here's a silly video of the same sketchbook:

It’s not just good for observation though, having the tools ready at all times means you never need to loose out on the creative gold. Drawing things that pop into your head is a brilliant way to develop new ideas. You never know when idea is going to happen so you need to be ready to capture it, get it down in its rawist form and you can come back to it and develop it. So many great ideas never happen because they weren’t written down. They don’t have to be masterpieces all the time, sometimes a stick man & scribble will be enough. Let go of the need for it to be perfect, sketchbooks are a safe place to work things out.

Plus you never need to be bored – make drawings and doodles anywhere, at any time. You can investigate, capture, record and invent. You don’t need to show anyone if you don’t want to, it can be your secret world to escape to. I find it really relaxing, if I’m stuck on a train or in a waiting room I often pass the time with my sketch book.

If I haven’t convinced you enough here’s a pinterest board of other people’s sketch books:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/sonispeight/sketch-books/

So why not take a little sketchbook with you and see what happens? I love looking through other people sketchbooks, and I think I'm going to try to share more of mine. If you want to share yours with me then tweet me a picture @sonispeight .

I’m back! And, even better, I hopefully have some wonderfully exciting news to share real soon. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a tough year or two. Lots of change, two house moves and some personal turmoil meant I ended up taking a break...From everything.

I can't fully articulate it in a way that sounds right, but basically this was me:

I got depressed, and it meant I stopped doing the things I loved. I even stopped drawing, I just couldn’t shake the big black cloud that was holding me down. I went very quiet. I lost my self confidence and avoided social media, generally couldn’t see a way forward.

I am lucky, I got a lot of support from those round me and it made me take everything into account, work out what made me happy and what didn’t. I was struck by a massive truth:

Drawing makes me...

So, I got selfish with it, I just drew for me. I was squirrelled away with a pencil and paper. I started small, just a doodle, then a bit more, added some colour and before I knew it I was drawing everyday again. I felt like my old self again, only even more focused than ever before.

Drawing makes me happy, I don’t have a choice. I’d keep doing this even if no one ever saw what I produce. I still have darker days, but I know how to handle them. I occasionally get weird anxiety that I’m heading into a dreadful abyss but, as long as I have a pencil with me, I have an escape route. It’s my magic wand, it tells silly jokes, creates new places to explore and introduces me to new characters.

I thought long and hard about writing this post, it seems a funny thing to share. I am no expert on mental health but I do think talking about it helps. I know different things will help different people, and that in the low points I wondered how I’d ever get back to normal. I can only tell you what worked for me.

Here’s a brief list of things, in no particular order, that helped:

I’m not sure who this post is for, probably mainly for me, but I want you to know that if you feel this way or have ever felt this way, you are so not alone.

Isabel talked about keeping your work diverse and how winning the Observer Jonathan Cape Graphic Short Story Prize, in 2011, gave her the break she needed. She shared nuggets of sage-like advice, some of which she said we could write down others she wanted us to skip. Here are what I managed to capture:

Put your work out there, even if it is not ready

Isabel reinforced the message we had already heard – sharing work and being open to people seeing it can help you progress. Competitions are good but posting images in progress can also be good.

Collaborate

Working with others can help improve your work but also take it in new directions that you might not have tried on your own. Isabel works with her sister, who is a historian, to create illustrated non-fiction.

Find time for the projects you love

Yes, you may have to do something else to pay the bills but it is important to make time for the projects you love, by following your passions you will create more exciting work that will lead to projects that you love too.

Try stuff out

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Just because you haven’t done something before doesn’t mean it won’t work. By playing around you can find new and exciting ideas.

Get out of the studio

Isabel acknowledges that the internet is great for research but sometimes you need to get out into the real world and experience things first hand.

Go for adventures

Traveling and exploring is a great source for ideas even if you don’t use them, they may feed into new things in the future.

Keep learning

By continuing to learn your work will evolve and you will continually improve. You’ll find your own way of working but don’t get stuck in a rut, keep trying new things. Isabel is excited to start an animation MA soon, so her work will be moving and changing in new ways.

A collective of three people, that were four until one ran off to start a band, and only two were presenting… They met at uni, where they first started collaborating, they have similar ways of working, share the income and encourage each other to experiment. Pretty inspiring stuff, plus they have started their own book press.

They really promoted the idea of playing and scratching the itch when you feel the need to try something. Their work seems to be based in playing and experimentation, by not giving themselves too many rules. They recommended just doing something if you want to, to see what comes of it. They also have had success with residencies, both applying for them and being offered them.

As a Senior Art Director at Walker Books, David talked about the process of working on a book. Starting with being emailed the manuscript, digesting it and then letting it settle in. He thinks about who the book is for and what it is trying to do and this feed into the creative brief.

He finds illustrators through portfolio submissions, but also through invites, pinterest, blogs, flyers – anywhere you might see visuals. He looks for a varied portfolio that does go beyond picture books, he likes to see a wider variety of work from packaging to bookmaking. Anything that demonstrates the desire to make and do.

He hailed Quentin Blake’s work as the timeless genius that illustrators should strive to be –not through copying but the consistency of voice throughout all applications of our work.

Helen thinks it is a really exciting time for illustration – there are younger titles, novelty books, graphic novels, comics, illustrated educational titles, packaging, covers. There are a lot more possibilities to earn money as a children’s illustrator than just picture books.

She highlights the excellent illustrated fiction from Alex T Smith, Sarah McIntyre, Becka Moor, pointing out that black and white or two colour illustrations can give you another area to work in.

Illustrating classic covers can be a good way to show you can do cover projects. Helen recommends researching what else is in the bookshop and having a go at those kinds of projects. Keep up with industry news and trends, keep an eye out for competitions and twitter challenges like #colourcollective.

Trying things out in your sketchbook is another great way to expand your work and can be great for showing what you can do. You should play to your strengths, get your work out and network.

On Sat I went back to Cambridge for the Beyond Picture Books conference. I did the summer school there two years ago (where has the time gone?), and it was really nice to meet up with some of the talented illustrators I met back then.

The conference was focusing on not just picture books but illustrated books in general – this included non-fic, graphic novels, long form books and much more. The overall emphasis of the day seemed to be:

Make what you are passionate about, even if it is just a personal project, people will hire you for the work you do.

There was so much discussed that I think this will be more than one post, but here goes:

Adam was great, he talked about his ‘weird and torturous journey’ into the career he has now. I think probably described how many of us have felt at some point – hating the day job, frustrated at not getting ideas out, needing someone to bounce ideas off.

Two great tips he shared were:

Use post-it notes for thumb-nailing so you can easily reorder and replace without having to re- draw the whole grid.

Try a plugin called BPelt to speed up colouring work in black artwork in Photoshop. It finds the white areas and makes them easy to fill with colour without tracing around them with the select tool or losing edge fidelity with the magic wand! Everyone in the room seemed excited by this.

I have followed Simone’s work for a while was so already totally in love with her, however, she is even more inspiring and funny in person. Her talk had us all laughing. Key things I took from her talk:

It is good to have an incubation period where you work on your illustration without too much interference from the outside world – you get to try your ideas and work out what you want to do and what you are interested in without the pressure of pleasing others.

People like to discover things for themselves – if you keep making and putting the work out there people looking for that kind of work will find you. Sometimes this is stronger than you sending it to them because they have got there on their own.

Simone also talked about how self-publishing was key to getting some of her projects off the ground, making things as zines and then grouping them together to make the books.

My favourite moment was Simone’s worm pictures, she said for a long time she kept painting worms mainly for her own amusement but eventually they fed into her work.

Beautifully illustrated non-fiction has seen a rise in popularity recently and Rachel Williams, from Wide Eyed Editions, is truly a champion of this art form. The mission statement Rachel gave was to create books that provide:

WONDER - DISCOVERY – INNOVATION

It was wonderful to hear about the effort out into the production quality of visually rich titles such as The Wonder Garden, with its engravings and rich colours, and Illuminature which has three colours of illustration and a special lens for viewing them.

They source illustrators who are great at their craft, who’s style can create an immersive look at the subject covered in the book. The illustrators may not have worked on picture books before but their work may already feature elements of what’s needed – animals, botanicals etc.